Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Ghostbusters
Title: Ghostbusters Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: Bart: Aw, what do you care about good comics? All you ever buy is Casper the Wimpy Ghost. Lisa: I think it’s sad that you equate friendliness with wimpiness, Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three-and-a-half bottles of acetylsalicylic acid out of five. Brief…
Tony Robbins Can Talk You Into Anything
Here’s a story you might have missed a few weeks back, what with the country collapsing. In late June, at Dallas’ Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, 30 aspirational souls received burn treatment after walking over hot coals at a Tony Robbins seminar. Robbins, a seize-your-life salesman of granite physique and…
Static Western Outlaws and Angels Invites You to Sit a Spell With Wannabe Rapists
Is it possible to sustain a feature in a single interior location with the premise that three outlaws on the run may or may not rape the three women of the house, two of whom are already being molested by their father? I mean, you could. But why the hell…
Houston Astros 2016 Midseason Awards and Second-Half Outlook
This week, CBS Sports’ website published an article by Mike Axisa in which he calculated and ranked the 30 Major League Baseball teams in order of how drastically their percentage chance of making the postseason had decreased or increased during the first half of the season. Much to my surprise, the…
Alistair Donkin Serves Up His 35th Season With the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston
Princess Ida isn’t new; the comic opera debuted at the Savoy Theatre in 1884 and its satiric takes on feminism, women’s education and Darwinian evolution rankled the knickers of conservative Victorian England. Now Alistair Donkin, who has been jetting in from England to work with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society…
Houston’s 10 Best Tribute Bands
Some folks pay tribute to their favorite bands by shelling out for concert tickets and merchandise. Others may adorn their cars and homes with posters and stickers. Some go several steps further — they start a tribute band. Houston is awash with tribute bands that pay homage to the rock gods of…
Bryan Cranston Carries The Infiltrator, but He Should Have Shared the Load
Bob Mazur, in his bestselling memoir, sounds like any of us when we shift careers, writing that he wanted something that “kept my interest, that didn’t box me into the same boring routine.” The only difference is that Mazur didn’t break the box quitting an ad job to launch a…
Woody Allen Finds a Story Worth Telling in Café Society — and Tells Another One
Café Society is surprisingly ambitious by the standards of late-period Woody Allen — a veritable epic taking in a broad swath of a young man’s life and charting his progress from wide-eyed innocent to cold, confident operator. But that’s also why the film, in some senses, could only have been…
Vitaly Mansky Glimpses the North Korea of Today in Under the Sun
It’s no secret that some documentary films are either partly or largely staged. Think of Errol Morris’s re-enactments; think of the fake archival footage in Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell; think of documentary granddad Robert Flaherty casting and concocting scenarios for Nanook of the North. That these strategies can also…
All-Too-Normal Activity Dominates the Ghostbusters Remake
Kindly allow this lengthy aside and conspiracy theorizing: I can’t start my review of Paul Feig’s redo of Ghostbusters without first mentioning the stupefying chaos that attended last Thursday evening’s press screening, the only one of two scheduled a half-hour apart in New York before the movie’s opening. This unprecedented…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: The Infiltrator
Title: The Infiltrator Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: Mr. Burns: “The year is 1965, and you and I are undercover detectives on the hot rod circuit. Now let’s burn rubber, baby!” Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three-and-a-half Elvis the alligators out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: So baby,…
The All-Time “Face of the Franchise” for All 30 NBA Teams
When a disillusioned Dwyane Wade chose to take his talents the hell out of South Beach late last week and head back to his hometown of Chicago, it was pretty jarring for fans all over the NBA. Without a doubt, LeBron James is the most talented player to ever don…
The 5 Most Romantic Restaurants in Katy
As one of the fastest-growing communities in Texas, you would think that Katy, Texas would have its fair share of romantic restaurants and date night spots. Surprisingly, there aren’t many dining destinations in Katy suitable for a first date or anniversary dinner—but there are a few good options. Knowing where…
Ghostbusters Proves Manbaby YouTube Downvotes Are Meaningless
So the first reviews of Ghostbusters have trickled out, and even for someone like me that was fairly sure we’d be getting a funny, but forgettable solid Hollywood summer movie I was surprised at the positive response. As of this writing it’s holding on to a 76 percent rating on Rotten…
Weird Al’s 10 Best Parody Tracks
“Weird Al” Yankovic has been doing this whole parody thing for more than 30 years now, so it makes sense that many would tire of his shtick and move on to the next thing. This holds particularly true in Weird Al’s case, in the sense that he has always been…
The Brothers of Men Go to Battle Are Fighting Just to Make It Through the Day
Few of us live our lives in widescreen. Instead, the frames in which our days play out tend to be tight and personal, the vistas only occasional. We see what we need to, what’s before us, what we actually inhabit. That truth has long been the source of a distracting…
Grown-Up Romance How He Fell in Love Might Be Onto Something if He Weren’t a Blank
Viewers complaining that a protagonist isn’t “likable” usually mean something more like “the protagonist doesn’t stir my empathy” — after all, audiences adore cozying up to scripted TV’s fascinating creeps. Winning that empathy demands that writers, directors and actors lay bare their characters’ selves, immersing us in their perspectives, engaging…
Sci-Fi Romance Equals Is a Nothing Movie About a Nothing World
The futuristic dystopia of the arty sci-fi romance Equals will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the likes of Gattaca, The Island or THX 1138. It’s a cool, rational, lifeless world, blanketed in whites and grays and blues, and peopled with unfeeling faces — a world whose citizens will express…
Court Sides With State About STORM’S Controversial Lease for Texas Oyster Reefs
For more than two years now, private oyster lease holders in Texas have been fighting over whether a navigation district had the right to issue a lease to Sustainable Texas Oyster Resource Management (aka STORM) — ceding control of a large portion of oyster reefs in Galveston Bay to just…
Will HPD Start Using Its Bomb Squad Robots for Lethal Force, Too?
The fact that the Dallas Police Department used a robot to kill the lone sniper in the deadly police ambush last week was the kind of detail that at first paled in comparison to those of the tragedy itself — but then, days after the attack, began to freak some…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: Know Your Beef Ribs
This week, the Pancake Princess (AKA our own Erika Kwee) is back with a recipe for vegan-friendly whole wheat aquafaba pancakes, which, of course, are best served with a hearty helping of pomegranate seeds, blueberries and cherries to top them off. Aquafaba is the starchy water left over from cooking…
Texas Supreme Court Puts Sweeping Pediatric Medicaid Therapy Cuts on Hold
Just two weeks before sweeping Medicaid therapy rate cuts would have jeopardized services for thousands of poor, disabled kids across the state, one therapist told us that trying to stop the cuts felt like trying to stop a train. Therapists and parents of disabled children had been protesting the Medicaid…
Houston Chefs and Master Sommelier Plan for Noma-Inspired Dinner at Paulie’s
Not everyone can hop on a plane to Copenhagen, Denmark and drop over $200 on a tasting menu at Noma, which is currently in the number five spot on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Fortunately for Houstonians, Chef Brandon Silva (formerly of Uchi and currently of Wooster’s Garden) spent nearly two…
They Will Never Make a Great Video Game Movie, and That’s Fine
In 1986, comic legend Alan Moore gave an interview about Watchmen where he discussed how the comic art form is fundamentally different than movies despite both being visual story-telling mediums. The difference is the pacing. Movies drag you along at a pre-determined speed, whereas you can spend as much time…
Tim Duncan, Among the Greatest, Retires After 19 NBA Seasons
As ends of eras go, if Kobe Bryant’s 82-game chuck-fest fantasy camp, complete with the adulation of tens of thousands (some of it likely very, very forced) at each stop along the way, was the quintessential Kobe Bryant way to say goodbye, then Monday’s adieu by San Antonio Spurs legend…
Ginger & Fork Tops Off Its Hong Kong-style Food With Southern Hospitality
Don’t assume that only one of Ginger & Fork’s Peking duck bao will be enough. It will disappear and quickly be replaced with longing for another of the airy, angelic rounds of dough filled with shredded duck and plenty of sweet and pungent hoisin sauce. While that sounds hard to…
How to Become the Very Best Pokemon Go Player in Houston
If you’ve somehow managed to avoid the Internet for the past few days, Pokémon is back, and it’s been updated for the app age. In case you missed the Poké craze of the ’90s, Pokémon is short for “pocket monsters,” which encompassed a TV show, card games and handheld games…
The 10 Hottest New Restaurants in Houston for July 2016
When it comes to “hot,” it’s not just Houston’s notoriously oppressive temperatures in July. Some of Houston’s newest restaurants are hot, too, but in a much more pleasant sense of the word. Here are ten places where the interest is high, the tables are in demand and the air conditioner…
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office Doesn’t Always Take Care of Its Own
Donald Robertson was blindsided. He was stopped at a red light on the North Sam Houston Parkway East frontage road on June 24, 2006, his patrol car next to a big white van sitting in the inside lane. The light turned green. As Robertson entered the intersection, a blue 2006…
Upcoming: Insane Clown Posse, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Old ’97s, TLC, etc.
Note: events in bold reflect highly recommended shows. 6 Prong Paw: Tue., July 19, 8 p.m., $5. White Swan, 4419 Navigation, Houston, 713-923-2837. Ace Frehley: Fri., August 19, 8 p.m., $35-$60. Jefferson Theatre, 345 Fannin, Beaumont, 409-838-3435. AJ McQueen: Sat., July 16, 6:15 p.m., $20. Eastdown Warehouse, 850 McKee, Houston,…
Carmine Appice Pounds Drums, and Groupies, in Sizzling Memoir
Stick It! My Life in Sex, Drums, and Rock ‘n’ Roll By Carmine Appice with Ian Gittins Chicago Review Press, 288 pp., $26.99 As one of rock’s most storied drummers, Carmine Appice was a member of Vanilla Fudge; the hugely underrated Cactus; Beck, Bogert, and Appice; and Blue Murder. He also thumped…
Houston’s 10 Best Dance Clubs
Houston’s busy nightlife scene is as fluid as any good DJ’s set should be. It’s possible to weave from poolside EDM palaces and sizzling Latin hotspots to gritty retro joints and cozy holes in the wall and back again, all within the course of a weekend — if your feet…
Mayor Turner Calls for Federal Probe of HPD Fatal Shooting
Mayor Sylvester Turner became the latest city or state official to request a federal Department of Justice investigation into an officer-involved shooting when he asked the feds on Monday to probe the death of Houston man Alva Braziel. “While I desire and require a full investigation, I am confident that…
Fifth Circuit Denies State’s Request to Boot Experts in Foster Care Reform
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied state officials’ motion to quash the appointment of special masters who are overseeing measures to overhaul the state’s beleaguered foster care system. Gov. Greg Abbott and officials from the Department of Family and Protective Services filed the appeal earlier this year,…
Adventure Club’s Pop-Up Show at Stereo Live Is a Smashing Success
Adventure Club Fan Appreciation Pop-Up Show Stereo Live July 9, 2016 Adventure Club played three shows in Houston in one week, after the Montreal crew rolled back into the Bayou City Saturday as an unscheduled stop of their “Texas Round Up” tour. People would think that the city would be…
Gov. Abbott Suffered Third-Degree Burns Hours Before Dallas Shooting [UPDATED]
Some family vacations are blemished by bickering among siblings, or when Dad gets lost and won’t ask for directions, or when you miss that connecting flight and sit for hours in an airport. Gov. Greg Abbott, however, probably would’ve gladly taken any of the above in exchange for what spoiled…
Dish of the Week: Pasta all’Amatriciana
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re using summer tomatoes to make an Italian classic: Pasta all’Amatriciana. Sugo all’ amatriciana, or amatriciana sauce, is a Roman-style pasta sauce…
Stop the All-Star Game Insanity and Awarding the Winner a World Series Advantage
That Major League Baseball has the best all-star game of all of the major professional sports speaks more to just how crappy all-star games are than how good the MLB game is. Any fond memories that fans might have of this game are those lingering memories of when that game…
SaltAir’s Worldly-Wise Chef Tasting Series Explores 12 Cuisines in 12 Weeks
Some folks are fortunate enough to enjoy endless travel funds and can whisk away to the South of France or the Mediterranean islands whenever the urge strikes, lucky ducks. However, this summer Houstonians have an enticing reason to leave their passports untouched and stick close to the Gulf Coast for…
Subpoenas: Rep. Lamar Smith’s Favorite Climate Change Denial Tool
Rep. Lamar Smith certainly has developed a love of subpoenas. Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, tends to go after anything that even hints at confirming climate change with a passion old school Puritans must have had when defending every word of the Bible. Right…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Bastille Day Celebrations
All Week Long Poke Week at Izakaya This week, Izakaya, 318 Gray, is celebrating all things poke by offering poke specials at both lunch and dinner. Poke is an increasingly popular raw fish salad that originally hails from Hawaii. It often includes onions and other flavorful veggies. Interested in trying…
Houston Rockets Introduce New Acquisitions, Sign Harden to $118M Contract Extension
With the free agents they’ve signed, with the free agents they’ve watched leave (one, in particular), and with every subtle bit of behavior, the Houston Rockets have been sending a very clear message this offseason, and on Saturday they hammered that message home, putting $118 million behind it — this…
Houston’s Most Fun To-Go Meal: Backdoor Chicken At Velvet Taco (With Video)
Hanging around the back door of a restaurant asking one of the workers to hand you food sounds both pathetic and creepy, but Velvet Taco at 4819 Washington Avenue actually wants people to do that. Even diners who have been to Velvet Taco before might not have noticed the painting…
Spuf Don Calls Old Friend Travis Scott to Add an ‘Element of Surprise’
You never know what may spawn out of a conversation with N.O. Joe. Last September, weeks before Scarface’s Deeply Rooted became a full-fledged and visible album, I sat inside of Joe’s studio in Stafford, a tucked-away hideout where most of his plaques from years producing hits for ‘Face, UGK &…
Texas Proposes Mandating Burials for Aborted Fetuses
Just weeks after the Supreme Court struck down Texas’ restrictions on abortion clinics as unconstitutional, state policymakers proposed new regulations reproductive rights advocates believe would be burdensome. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission last week proposed new rules to require burials or cremation for all aborted fetuses, regardless of…
Halsey Is the Most Interesting Pop Singer You’re Not Listening To
Halsey, Bad Suns Revention Music Center July 8, 2016 Confidence comes in many forms. There are slang terms like “swag” that music writers use as shorthand for the confident cool that comes from having the ability to strut across the stage fearlessly. There are coded terms like “attitude” that music…
Shows of the Week: Pop’s Top Parodist Is Still In Peak Form
WEIRD AL YANKOVIC Wortham Center (Brown Theater), July 14 Weird Al Yankovic has been lampooning acts, from The Knack to Robin Thicke, now currently residing in the “Where Are They Now?” file for three and a half decades and counting. His better-known targets, meanwhile, know a Weird Al parody is…
10 Houston Rock Acts You Should Know About
Unless you live under a rock, you may have noticed that Houston’s local scene is making huge strides, so it can be all too easy to miss some talent that deserves the much-needed attention. Acknowledging the wealth of musical diversity spread across Houston’s various loops, we’ve gathered ten acts from…
Dallas Police Release Additional Details About Cop Shooter Micah Johnson
On Friday, police searched the home of police shooter Micah Johnson, gleaning details about the man who targeted them in a rampage Thursday night. Detectives found “bomb making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition, and a personal journal of combat tactics,” according to the Dallas Police Department. Johnson, 25, had no…
UPDATE: More Details on Gunman, Slain Officers Emerge in Dallas Police Ambush
Micah Xavier Johnson, the man Dallas police say killed five officers in an ambush attack at a demonstration against police violence Thursday night, told officers he was not affiliated with any group or organization but was targeting white people and white police officers because he was upset about police shootings…
In Wake of Dallas Police Ambush, Houston Leaders Promise to Protect Protesters, Officers
More than a dozen clergy members came to the Houston Police Department to offer prayers and support after five Dallas police officers were killed and another seven wounded when a sniper opened fire at an otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter protest last night. Led by Bishop James Dixon, the clergy…
‘Deadbeat,’ Houston’s Weekly Deadhead Rendezvous, Keeps On Truckin’
Finding a band surrounded by more mystique than the Grateful Dead would be a fool’s errand that could last longer than the average live Dead jam. Except there is no such thing as an “average” Dead jam. By fusing simple American folk music with bold jazz-like improvisation, the Dead minted…
Dan Patrick: Black Lives Matter Responsible for Dallas Police Ambush
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on Friday criticized peaceful Dallas protesters for seeking police protection as gunfire erupted Thursday evening. Patrick, no stranger to inflammatory comments, blamed Black Lives Matter activists for the shooting of 12 Dallas officers — 5 of whom died…
“Hatred and Race and Violence Are Taught,” Dallas Shooting Victim’s Sister Says
Sherie Williams, 46, was visiting from her home in Minneapolis when she learned that her sister, Shetamia Taylor, 38, of Garland, had been shot in the leg during Thursday night’s ambush massacre of police in downtown Dallas. Williams says Taylor and her three sons had been just about to return…
Robert Ellis Finally Gets the Discovery Green Homecoming He Deserves
Robert Ellis, Tom Brosseau Discovery Green July, 7, 2016 Over the years, Robert Ellis has transformed himself. Many of us remember the skinny, long-haired troubadour with the enchanting voice and kind smile. That was way before the record deal, and certainly before he was making appearances on NPR and other…
Are Automated Game Stories the Future of Sports Reporting?
The Associated Press has announced it will start providing automated coverage of minor league baseball games. By automated coverage, it means that game stories will be written by a computer program based upon stats and game information provided by MLB Advanced Media. This marks a return to minor leagues, which the…
Dallas’s Long Night: 5 Police Officers Killed, Suspect in Standoff Dead, Downtown Declared a Crime Scene [UPDATED]
A rally against police violence became a scene of bedlam when a pair of gunmen opened fire, killing five officers. The hail of gunshots shattered a previously peaceful rally, sending hundreds of people fleeing through the streets in panic. At least two shooters from separate elevated positions above the demonstration site…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Celebrate One Year at Bramble
Here’s a look at this weekend’s best culinary happenings: Beats + BBQ + Brews at Lincoln Bar Houston Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. 5110 Washington Hit Lincoln Bar to get a taste of Blood Bros. BBQ’s excellent smoked meats alongside fresh drinks and tunes spun by DJ Seek. The…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: The Secret Life Of Pets
Title: The Secret Life of Pets Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: Homer: “Two bucks to win on number eight. [sobbing] And have you seen my beloved dog?” Rating Using Random Objects Related To The Film: Three pooper scoopers out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Domesticated animals escape homes, are miraculously not hit…
Harris County Public Health Actually Tests Groundwater Wells Near the San Jacinto River Waste Pits and Finds Dioxin
Harris County Public Heath recently warned people living near the San Jacinto River Waste Pit Superfund site to avoid drinking tap water after dioxin, a known carcinogen, was detected in groundwater wells near the Channelview site. Along the way, the county became the first government agency to actually test the…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: A Collaboration of Smoke
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary events: Throughout the month of July, Tony’s Restaurant, 3755 Richmond , will offer diners refuge from the sweltering temperatures with a “Haute July” summer tasting menu. Priced at $59 per person (including pairings), the three-course, prix fixe…
1996 WCW Bash at the Beach, The New World Order Turns 20 (w/ VIDEO)
Earlier this quarter, World Wrestling Entertainment, the $700 million publicly held parent company of the WWE brand, was the subject of several news reports about a positive outlook for their stock, largely due to the success of their in-house, subscriber-based TV network. Earlier this week, news broke about Nike opposing…
Now That Brexit Has Screwed Up UK’s Economy, Let’s Go Shopping, America
A couple of weeks ago when news that people in Great Britain had voted to leave the European Union, a lot of us here in the former colonies scratched our heads at the news wondering what it all meant. Would the British pound and the euro plunge in value, causing…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Witches, Nerd-lesque & Music
All we have to say about the body painting by RCC Creations is that it’s freaking awesome. KiKi Maroon’s Comic Strip mixes in a little burlesque, comic book characters and comedians for one bawdy Saturday night. The themes continue all weekend with comedian Jim Gaffigan headlining in The Woodlands, and…
Three More Area Pregnant Women Contract Zika
Three more pregnant women, all from Houston, have tested positive for the Zika virus, the Legacy Community Health clinic announced Thursday. Two of the women had recently traveled to El Salvador and one to Brazil, where Zika has become enough of a threat that officials have urged pregnant women to…
Five Reasons Your Band Isn’t Getting Noticed
Anyone who has ever been in a band understands how frustrating it can be starting out and trying to make a name for yourself. Building interest in your music and attracting an audience can be hard work and daunting, and there are many reasons that a band’s efforts might not…
Houston Rappers Protest Recent Police Killings In Latest Music
Protest music has existed as long as music itself. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On released in 1971 was essentially a protest album about the Vietnam War. Rage Against The Machine built a career off of it. The Geto Boys catalog, as macabre as it was sometimes, ultimately felt like sounds…
Friday Free For All: Adventure Club, Fergie, Alastair Galbraith, Meet Your Death, etc.
The Friday Free For All relays albums, artists, videos and vibes the Houston Press Music staff has been grooving to over the past week. ADVENTURE CLUB Between 2015’s Gaslamp fiasco and various velvet-rope dustups through the years at too many Washington Avenue discotheques to count, discrimination is no stranger to…
HISD Reverses Course, Will Test All Schools for Lead in Water
After initially planning to only test nine schools this summer for lead contamination in its water outlets, the Houston Independent School District reversed its policy Wednesday evening and will now test all of its 153 elementary schools this year, following questions by the Houston Press about lead testing to HISD…
UT Professors Sue Over Campus Carry, Argue It Violates First, Second Amendments [UPDATED]
Yesterday, three University of Texas at Austin professors sued over what it called the state’s “overly-solicitous, dangerously-experimental” campus-carry gun policies. Naming Attorney General Ken Paxton, UT President Gregory Fenves (even though he has vociferously opposed the law) and the UT Board of Regents as defendants in the suit, the professors…
As Construction Begins on Congested I-45 Ramps, Get Ready to Change Your Commute (and Sit in Traffic)
There’s a chance you’re going to have to rethink your commute, because starting tonight, construction crews are closing down some of the most heavily traveled I-45 entrance ramps in the city. If you use southbound I-45 ramps at Rusk and Memorial, Houston Avenue, or Allen Parkway, then get ready for…
Tradition, Un-Birthdays and Random Japanese Junk Food: My First Japan Crate
My wife is fond of randomness. Odd little surprises showing up on our doorstep has become a pretty consistent thing over the past few years, from sample packs of lip gloss for her and the girls to what amounts to pint-sized pulp fiction for the baby. A few years ago,…
Abbott Responds to New York Ad That Calls Him Discriminatory With Tone-Deaf Tweet
New York, like the rest of the country, was apparently taking notes when Texas tried to defy the Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized gay marriage, and also refused to follow federal guidelines that afford transgender kids equal access to proper bathrooms. Because on Wednesday, New York’s chief economic development agency…
Sharon Kopriva’s Mummies, Skeletons and Spirits Come Home to Earth Mother
Sharon Kopriva’s little monsters have come home. As recent museum and gallery exhibitions have wrapped up, her Heights-area studio is packed with mummified clergy, the spirits of hairless dogs and rope-bound headless earth mothers sprouting roots. It’s shaping up to be an impromptu 30 year retrospective of Kopriva’s work, and…
The 10 Best Quiet Restaurants in Houston
Sometimes, diners want to get away from the hustle and bustle of their lives and enjoy a quiet meal. That doesn’t mean they’re in search of a restaurant with no customers because it’s in its death throes. It’s about finding a respectable place where fellow diners are subtly encouraged to…
5 Tips for Finally Ditching an Unkempt Life
I recently moved into a new apartment, and as I have done with every move I have made since I left my father’s house I vowed that this time I would keep the house neat. I would not let things devolve into stained carpets and grimy floors and cluttered horizontal…
Randalls in Downtown Houston Wants to Provide “Great Service,” So It Removed the Self-Checkout Lanes
The Randalls in downtown Houston has removed its self-service checkout registers. When we left a message with Randalls’ corporate office asking why, we received an official statement from community relations manager, Dawne Proffitt, which says, “In planning the redesign of our Midtown store and focusing on providing great service, the…
The Fifth Circuit Finds That Machine Guns (Still) Aren’t Protected by the Second Amendment
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is known for being one of the most conservative courts in the country. You’d think this would mean the judges would be open to striking down a law banning machine guns, but it turns out even the judges on the Fifth don’t think…
Beyoncé Protégé Ingrid Plants Her Flag on ‘Trill Feels’ EP
Rapping in short bursts is what you make of it. Once upon a time, the typical rap mixtape was an odyssey. Jacking for beats, a few skits, a ton of filler attached with many hangers-on and subpar rappers who ultimately became weed carriers. Out of 26 tracks, say, maybe only…
Blink-182 Is a Good Band. (Yes, Seriously.)
Blink-182 was always an easy band to like, albeit one it wasn’t easy to admit doing so. After all, this is a band whose breakthrough single featured the trio running naked through the streets of California. This is a band whose co-lead singer (Tom DeLonge) had the voice of a…
Boys Don’t Like Me. Help!
BOYS DON’T LIKE ME Dear Willie D: I’m a 17-year-old girl who will be a high-school senior next year. Everybody tells me I’m cute, except boys. They don’t even look at me. I have other friends who are always going on dates with boys, and they talk about kissing and…
Six Houston Acts for Six Local TV Commercials
The casting director for those VisitHouston television commercials made an inspired choice when The Suffers was chosen to star in a recent spot. The band is as big, diverse and soulful as the city it represents, and it’s representing all the time, not only in 30-second TV ads but in…
Texas Requests Injunction Against Feds to Stop What It Calls Obama’s “Bathroom Rules”
Continuing its crusade against equality in public bathrooms, the Texas Attorney General’s Office has requested a preliminary injunction against the Obama administration, after the feds directed all public schools to not discriminate against transgender students. The legal filing stems from the May 25 lawsuit that Texas filed against the feds,…
Despite Hateful Rhetoric, Muslim Leaders Urge Community Against Living in Fear
It was around 5:30 a.m. Sunday when Dr. Arslan Tajammul left his car for the mosque to pray, when he was shot Police say he was in a parking lot near the southwest Houston Madrasah Islamiah mosque when the armed man and others attacked and robbed him. Thirty-year-old Tajammul was taken…
Twenty One Pilots Demonstrate Their Staying Power at a Sold-Out Pavilion
Twenty One Pilots Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion July 5, 2016 A little over a year since the release of their chart-topping fourth album, Blurryface, Twenty One Pilots returned to Houston Tuesday night to headline a sold-out Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Serving as both the album’s namesake and the moniker for…
More than 30 Scientific Societies Urge Congress to Stop Denying Climate Change
For a while now, scientists have been dealing with a steady stream of climate change denial from the U.S. Congress with a mix of wit and thinly veiled exasperation, but it looks like they’ve finally run out of patience because some of the top scientific organizations in the country just…
First Look at Restless Palate in Katy
It’s never a good sign to be greeted by an grumpy-looking hostess, as was the case at Restless Palate, 2643 Commercial Center in the LaCenterra At Cinco Ranch shopping center in Katy. “How many?” she asked, looking rather coldly at the two of us. “Just us two,” I replied. A better…
Houston Restaurant Ouisie’s Table Pokes Fun at Presidential Race With Special Menu
When people think about Ouisie’s Table, the image might be of Southern food, good service or the beautiful patio. It’s not likely that of an equal-opportunity offender, but the Houston restaurant has developed a non-partisan menu that pokes a little lighthearted fun at Democratic and Republican presidential candidates alike. Even…
Does Sheriff Ron Hickman Have a Defensiveness Problem?
After deputies were indicted last week for ordering the search of a woman’s vagina for marijuana in public, it’s safe to say Sheriff Ron Hickman’s response was rather jarring. First, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that it believed the deputies, who were charged with official…
Who Is the Houston Texans’ Biggest Rival?
I’m a big fan of the way that ESPN.com covers the NFL, assigning one beat writer to each team to form a collective NFL Nation of coverage in the NFL portion of their website. This time of year, during one of the handful of lulls between milestone NFL calendar events,…
Clinton’s Emails, GamerGate and How the Word “Corruption” Became Meaningless
By now everyone is aware that the FBI has decided not to pursue criminal charges against Hillary Clinton over using a private email server during her time as Secretary of State, something slightly less predictable than the results of Bring Your Rabid Badger to Work Day. If you were crossing…
Upcoming: Animal Collective, Deerhoof, Lydia Loveless, Schoolboy Q, Smokey Robinson, Van Wilks, White Fang, etc.
Note: events in bold reflect highly recommended shows. WOMAN Movie Premiere and Fundraising Gala: Sat., July 16, 7:30 p.m.-2 a.m., $50. Bam Bam Hall, 2703 Hwy. 6 #150, Houston, 832-859-1431. 1st Annual Houston Oil Fest: With Nuclear Hellfrost, Turbokrieg, Torture Garden, Existencia, Pyreship, Indaskies, Blue, Krvshr, Blunt, Sleeping Ancient, Funeral…
Six Classes We’d Love to See Matthew McConaughey Teach at UT
If you know of anyone who denies that we are truly living in an enlightened age of Matthew McConaughey super-thespianism known as the McConaissance, all you’d need to do to is remind them that The Great One will be teaching a film class at UT-Austin this fall. That’s right —…
Buc-ee’s Demands $67K Back From Ex-Employee Because She Left
For four years, Kelly Rieves has lived with an anvil above her head. She left her job as an assistant manager at Buc-ee’s on good terms to pursue a different opportunity in 2012. Rieves had worked at the popular Texas convenience store chain since 2009, and enjoyed her time there…
Six Acts Who Need to Be on ABC’s Greatest Hits
The American Broadcasting Company, better known as ABC, has lately delved into all things past with great relish. A couple of recent summer program offerings from the Already Been Cherished network include a weak retread of The Match Game and a reboot of those Dick Clark “Pyramid” shows. So, ABC’s latest…
NASA’s Juno Probe Arrives in Jupiter’s Orbit
After five years of traveling through deep space, NASA scientists confirmed on Monday night that NASA’s Juno spacecraft arrived in orbit around Jupiter, the oldest, largest planet in our solar system. If everything goes well, Juno, a 400-pound titanium box strapped to a 66-foot-long solar panel, will dig up…
